Displaying apparatus

ABSTRACT

A displaying apparatus includes a displaying panel, aback light device disposed below the displaying panel, and a structural frame. The displaying panel has a first and a second side and includes a first substrate, a second substrate disposed on the first substrate and covering the whole first substrate, a light-masking structure located between the first and second substrates, a plurality of light modulation units located between the first and second substrates, and a connection circuit formed on the protruding portion of the second substrate. The structural frame supports the first and second sides of the displaying panel. An edge of the second substrate is near or aligned with a side surface of the structural frame. Therein, a projection of the light-masking structure can cover portions of the structural frame, supporting the first and second substrates, and the connection circuit.

CROSS REFERENCE TO RELATED APPLICATIONS

This is a continuation application of U.S. patent application Ser. No.13/645,520, filed on Oct. 5, 2012.

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION

1. Field of the Invention

The invention relates to a displaying apparatus, and especially relatesto a displaying apparatus having a displaying panel using alight-masking structure for separating pixels.

2. Description of the Prior Art

Current widely-used displaying apparatuses are usually designed withactive light source, liquid crystal display for example. The back lighttherefor is emitted from below the liquid crystal panel to generateimages. The liquid crystal display is usually based on modular design,so the structure and function for every component is just designed forits function requirement leading to the liquid crystal display requiringmany individual components for satisfying its whole specificationrequirement. In the configuration of the current liquid crystal displayfor example, the back light module is in charge mainly of providing backlight . The liquid crystal panel is in charge mainly of controllingwhether the back light passes through to generate required color lightfor each pixel. The structural frame is in charge of connecting,supporting, and fixing related or close disposed components. Theappearance decoration part is in charge of providing an appearancevisual effect for the whole apparatus. The modular design iscontributive to simplifying product design and increase reuse rate ofdesign, but the amount of the components is hard to be reduced leadingto difficulty in reducing product volume. Furthermore, the assembly ofthe components usually unavoidably involve seam or step therebetween sothat the product appearance hardly provides a visual effect of integralwhole to users.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION

An objective of the invention is to provide a displaying apparatus,whose displaying panel uses a light-masking structure in its structureto provide a structure for efficient masking light for the displayingpanel, so that the displaying apparatus can use less or even not useadditional light-masking components, which facilitates volume controland appearance design of the displaying apparatus.

A displaying apparatus according to the invention includes a displayingpanel, a back light device, and a structural frame. The displaying panelhas a first side and a second side opposite the first side and includesa first substrate, a second substrate, a light-masking structure, aplurality of light modulation units, and a connection circuit. The firstsubstrate has a first edge. The second substrate is disposed on thefirst substrate and covers the whole first substrate. The secondsubstrate is beyond the first substrate at the second side and has aprotruding portion. The second substrate has a second edge. Thelight-masking structure is located between the first substrate and thesecond substrate and has a plurality of light-penetrating portions. Thelight modulation units are disposed between the first substrate and thesecond substrate corresponding to the light-penetrating portions, forcontrolling light selectively emitting out of the second substrate. Theconnection circuit is formed on the protruding portion at the secondside and electrically connected to a semiconductor switch of each lightmodulation unit on the second substrate. The back light device isdisposed below the displaying panel and includes a light source module.The structural frame surrounds the back light device and supports thefirst side and the second side of the displaying panel. The structuralframe has a side surface. The second edge is near or aligned with theside surface. Therein, a projection of the light-masking structurecovers portions of the structural frame, supporting the first substrateand the second substrate, and the connection circuit.

A displaying apparatus according to the invention includes a displayingpanel and a structural frame. The displaying panel has a first side anda second side opposite the first side and includes a first substrate, asecond substrate, a light-masking structure, a plurality of lightmodulation units, and a connection circuit. The first substrate has afirst edge. The second substrate is disposed on the first substrate andcovers the whole first substrate. The second substrate is beyond thefirst substrate at the second side and has a protruding portion. Thesecond substrate has a second edge. The light-masking structure islocated between the first substrate and the second substrate and has aplurality of light-penetrating portions. The light modulation units aredisposed between the first substrate and the second substratecorresponding to the light-penetrating portions, for controlling lightselectively emitting out of the first or second substrate. Theconnection circuit is formed on the protruding portion at the secondside and electrically connected to a semiconductor switch of each lightmodulation unit on the first or second substrate. The structural framesupports the first side and the second side of the displaying panel. Thestructural frame has a side surface. The second edge is near or alignedwith the side surface. Therein, a projection of the light-maskingstructure covers the connection circuit.

Compared with the prior art, in the configuration of the displayingpanel according to the invention, the light-masking structureefficiently covers circuits on the first and second substrates or othercomponents and structures and also to be conducive to reduction of lightleakage of the displaying panel to a certain extent. Therefore, anapparatus using this displaying panel can use less additionallight-masking components so as to reduce the volume of the displayingapparatus.

These and other objectives of the present invention will no doubt becomeobvious to those of ordinary skill in the art after reading thefollowing detailed description of the preferred embodiment that isillustrated in the various figures and drawings.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

FIG. 1 is a sectional view of a displaying apparatus of a preferredembodiment according to the invention.

FIG. 2 is an enlarged sectional view of a part of the displayingapparatus in FIG. 1.

FIG. 3 is a top view of the displaying apparatus in FIG. 1.

FIG. 4 is a sectional view of a displaying apparatus according toanother embodiment.

FIG. 5 is a top view of the displaying apparatus in FIG. 4.

FIG. 6 is a sectional view of a displaying apparatus according toanother embodiment.

FIG. 7 is a top view of the displaying apparatus in FIG. 6.

FIG. 8 is a sectional view of a displaying apparatus according toanother embodiment.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION

Please refer to FIG. 1, which is a sectional view of a displayingapparatus 1 of a preferred embodiment according to the invention. Thedisplaying apparatus 1 includes a displaying panel 10, a back lightdevice 12, a structural frame 14, and a control module 16. Thedisplaying panel 10 has a displaying direction 10 a. The back lightdevice 12 is disposed below the displaying panel 10 in the displayingdirection 10 a, for providing required light for the displaying panel10. The structural frame 14 is used for fixing the displaying panel 10and the back light device 12. The displaying panel 10 is capable ofselectively controlling the light produced by the back light device 12to pass through to generate plane images. It is added that, in practice,the displaying apparatus 1 can be applied to but not limited to smartphones, displays and other electronic apparatus having function ofdisplaying images. For different electronic apparatus, there may beother electronic components involved, which is known by peopleordinarily skilled in the art and is not described in details. Forsimple illustration, in the specification, the figures only showcomponents directly relevant to the technique features of the invention.

Please also refer to FIG. 2. FIG. 2 is an enlarged sectional view of apart of the displaying apparatus 1; therein, the interior structure ofthe displaying panel 10 is shown to be exaggerated. Further, thedisplaying panel 10 includes a first substrate 102, a second substrate104, an optical filter structure 106, a light-masking structure 108, anda plurality of light modulation units 110. The first substrate 102 has afirst edge 102 a. The second substrate 104 is joined onto the firstsubstrate 102 in the displaying direction 10 a. The second substrate 104has a second edge 104 a and includes an edge portion 104 b including thesecond edge 104 a. The second edge 104 a is aligned with the first edge102 a. The light-masking structure 108 is disposed between the firstsubstrate 102 and the second substrate 104. The light-masking structure108 wholly covers the edge portion 104 b in the displaying direction 10a and has a plurality of light-penetrating portions 108 a. The opticalfilter structures 106 are disposed between the first substrate 102 andthe second substrate 104 corresponding to light-penetrating portions 108a. The light modulation units 110 are disposed between the firstsubstrate 102 and the second substrate 104 corresponding to thelight-penetrating portions 108 a and electrically connected to thecontrol module 16 by a connection circuit 112 formed on the firstsubstrate 102 and a flexible flat cable 17. Therefore, the controlmodule 16 uses the light modulation units 110 to individually controlthe light produced by the back light device 12 selectively emitting outof the second substrate 104 in the displaying direction 10 a to generateplane images. The structural frame 14 has a side surface 14 a. Thesecond edge 104 a of the second substrate 104 of the displaying panel 10is aligned with the side surface 14 a.

In the embodiment, the displaying panel 10 is a liquid crystal panel.The optical filter structure 106 is used for produce different colorlights, such as red light, green light, and blue light. The lightmodulation units 110 are realized on the basis of light penetrationmechanism of liquid crystal; however, the invention is not limitedthereto. In the embodiment, the optical filter structure 106 is formedon the second substrate 104. The light-masking structure 108 is theblack matrix for the liquid crystal panel and is also formed on thesecond substrate 104 capable of dividing the optical filter structure106 into a plurality of color areas. In logic, the light modulation unit110 includes two electrodes 1102 a and 1102 b formed on the firstsubstrate 102 and the second substrate 104 respectively, a liquidcrystal 1104 disposed between the electrodes 1102 a and 1102 b, and asemiconductor switch 1106 formed on the first substrate 102 andelectrically connected to the electrodes 1102 a and 1102 b. In practice,the electrodes 1102 b are taken as a single common electrode. Theelectrodes 1102 a and the semiconductor switches 1106 are realized byforming a thin-film-transistor matrix on the first substrate 102. Theelectrodes 1102 a function as cell electrodes and are controlled bycorresponding semiconductor switches 1106. The liquid crystal 1104 isfilled between the first substrate 102 and the second substrate 104.Spacers are involved to maintain a distance between the first substrate102 and the second substrate 104. Other descriptions of the structureand operation mechanism of the liquid crystal panel are known by peopleordinarily skilled in the art and are not described in further details.

In the embodiment, because the light-masking structure 108 covers theedge portion 104 b wholly; that is, the interior structure of thedisplaying panel 10 at the first edge 102 a or the second edge 104 a isefficiently shielded by the light-masking structure 108. So, in logic,additional border is needless for shielding. For users, thelight-masking structure 108 at the first edge 102 a or the second edge104 a can also function as a border, where the surface of the displayingapparatus 1 can be kept smooth and continuous, which is conducive tobeauty appearance of the displaying apparatus 1. In addition, in theembodiment, the first substrate 102 is directly attached onto thestructural frame 14. Because the displaying panel 10 usually includes apolarizing sheet on the first substrate 102, the structural frame 14 canbe formed with a step structure in coordination with the polarizingsheet, so as to improve the sealability and junction strength of thedisplaying panel 10 with the structural frame 14.

In the embodiment, the semiconductor switch 1106 is disposed on thefirst substrate 102. The connection circuit 112 is also formed on thefirst substrate 102. For the convenience of electrically connecting thecontrol module 16 and the light modulation units 110, the connectioncircuit 112 needs to be relatively exposed out of the second substrate104, that is, where the second substrate 104 does not cover the firstsubstrate 102. Therefore, in a practical product design, the displayingpanel 10 can be disposed to be aligned with the structural frame 14 atmost three sides of the structural frame 14, as shown by FIG. 3.Therein, the border effect by the light-masking structure 108 in thedisplaying panel 10 is indicated by hatched lines in the figure.However, the invention is not limited thereto. Please refer to FIG. 4,which is a sectional view of a displaying apparatus 3 according toanother embodiment. In the embodiment, a displaying panel 30 of thedisplaying apparatus 3 is similar in structure to the displaying panel10 of the displaying apparatus 1. The main difference is that in theembodiment, the connection circuit 112 is formed on the second substrate104, and the semiconductor switch 1106 on the first substrate 102 can beelectrically connected to the connection circuit 112 by an anisotropicconductive film. In such case, the connection circuit 112 is relativelyexposed out of the first substrate 102. The second substrate 104 thencovers the whole first substrate 102. The circumference of the secondsubstrate 104 can be totally aligned with the outer side surface of thestructural frame 14, so that the top view of the displaying apparatus 3almost shows only the displaying panel 30. Therefore, the displayingapparatus 3 can provide users a full flat screen with visual effect ofseamless and integral whole, as shown by FIG. 5. Therein, the bordereffect by the light-masking structure 108 in the displaying panel 30 isindicated by hatched lines in the figure. It is added that, in practice,the second substrate 104 can be beyond the edge of the first substrate102; that is, the second edge 104 a is beyond the first edge 102 a.Thereby, it is convenient to design the width of the border formed bythe light-masking structure 108.

In the above embodiments, if it is considered that light may leak out atthe edges of the displaying panels 10 and 30, in practice, the edges ofthe displaying panels 10 and 30 can be coated with layers for absorbinglight, but the invention is not limited thereto. Please refer to FIG. 6,which is a sectional view of a displaying apparatus 5 according toanother embodiment. The displaying apparatus 5 is similar in structureto the displaying apparatus 3. The main difference is that a structuralframe 54 of the displaying apparatus 5 includes a protrusive side wall542. The side wall 542 includes a side surface 54 a of the structuralframe 54. The second edge 104 a of the second substrate 104 contacts theside wall 542. In such case, the second edge 104 a of the secondsubstrate 104 is just near to, not aligned with the side surface 54 a.In the configuration of the displaying apparatus 5, the side wall 542has the function of absorbing light as the light-absorbing layers;besides, the side wall 542 is conducive to the disposition of thedisplaying panel 10 and the structural strength of the whole displayingapparatus 5. Furthermore, the second substrate 104 of the displayingapparatus 5 covers the whole first substrate 102, so in the embodiment,the protrusive side wall 542 can surround the circumference of thesecond substrate 104. As shown by the top view of the displayingapparatus 5 in FIG. 7, when the thickness of the side wall 542 is thinrelative to the displaying panel 10, the displaying apparatus 5 canstill provide users a visual effect of full flat screen. Furthermore,the side wall 542 can provide users an effect of decorating the fringeof the displaying panel 10. Therein, the border effect by thelight-masking structure 108 in the displaying panel 10 is indicated byhatched lines in the figure.

In the above embodiment, the semiconductor switch 1106 and the opticalfilter structure 106 are disposed on the first substrate 102 and thesecond substrate 104 respectively, but the invention is not limitedthereto. Please refer to FIG. 8, which is a sectional view of adisplaying panel 70 according to another embodiment. In the embodiment,the semiconductor switches 1106 of the light modulation units 110 areformed on the optical filter structure 106 and the light-maskingstructure 108. The connection circuit 112 of the displaying panel 70 isalso formed directly on the second substrate 104. Thereby, the secondsubstrate 104 can be structurally designed to cover the whole firstsubstrate 102, so as to obtain the effect of full flat screen. Forexample, the displaying panel 70 replaces the displaying panel 30 to beused in the displaying apparatus 3 shown in FIG. 4.

Those skilled in the art will readily observe that numerousmodifications and alterations of the device and method may be made whileretaining the teachings of the invention. Accordingly, the abovedisclosure should be construed as limited only by the metes and boundsof the appended claims.

What is claimed is:
 1. A displaying apparatus, comprising: a displayingpanel having a first side and a second side opposite the first side, andcomprising: a first substrate having a first edge; a second substratedisposed on the first substrate and covering the whole first substrate,the second substrate being beyond the first substrate at the second sideand having a protruding portion, the second substrate having a secondedge; a light-masking structure located between the first substrate andthe second substrate and having a plurality of light-penetratingportions; a plurality of light modulation units disposed between thefirst substrate and the second substrate corresponding to thelight-penetrating portions, for controlling light selectively emittingout of the second substrate; and a connection circuit formed on theprotruding portion at the second side and electrically connected to asemiconductor switch of each light modulation unit on the secondsubstrate; a back light device disposed below the displaying panel, theback light device comprising a light source module; and a structuralframe surrounding the back light device and supporting the first sideand the second side of the displaying panel, the structural frame havinga side surface, the second edge being near or aligned with the sidesurface; wherein a projection of the light-masking structure coversportions of the structural frame, supporting the first substrate and thesecond substrate, and the connection circuit.
 2. The displayingapparatus of claim 1, wherein the displaying panel further comprises anoptical filter structure, formed on the second substrate correspondingto the light-penetrating portions.
 3. The displaying apparatus of claim2, wherein the light modulation unit comprises two electrodes formed onthe first substrate and the second substrate respectively and a liquidcrystal disposed between the two electrodes, and the semiconductorswitch is electrically connected to the two electrodes.
 4. Thedisplaying apparatus of claim 3, wherein the light-masking structure isformed on the second substrate.
 5. The displaying apparatus of claim 2,wherein the light modulation unit comprises two electrodes formed on thefirst substrate and the optical filter structure respectively and aliquid crystal disposed between the two electrodes, the semiconductorswitch is electrically connected to the two electrodes, and thelight-masking structure is formed on the second substrate.
 6. Thedisplaying apparatus of claim 1, wherein the displaying panel furthercomprises a control module, and the control module is electricallyconnected to the light modulation units by the connection circuit. 7.The displaying apparatus of claim 1, wherein the second substrate isaligned with the first substrate at the first side.
 8. The displayingapparatus of claim 1, wherein the structural frame has a protrusive sidewall, the second edge is against the protrusive side wall, an extensionend of the protrusive side wall is aligned with a top surface of thesecond substrate.
 9. The displaying apparatus of claim 1, wherein thelight source module is disposed at the first or the second side.
 10. Thedisplaying apparatus of claim 1, wherein the structural frame supportingthe first substrate and the protruding portion of the second substrate.11. A displaying apparatus, comprising: a displaying panel having afirst side and a second side opposite the first side and comprising: afirst substrate having a first edge; a second substrate disposed on thefirst substrate and covering the whole first substrate, the secondsubstrate being beyond the first substrate at the second side and havinga protruding portion, the second substrate having a second edge; alight-masking structure located between the first substrate and thesecond substrate, and having a plurality of light-penetrating portions;a plurality of light modulation units disposed between the firstsubstrate and the second substrate corresponding to thelight-penetrating portions, for controlling light selectively emittingout of the first or the second substrate; and a connection circuitformed on the protruding portion at the second side and electricallyconnected to a semiconductor switch of each light modulation unit on thefirst or second substrate; and a structural frame supporting the firstside and the second side of the displaying panel, the structural framehaving a side surface, the second edge being near or aligned with theside surface; wherein a projection of the light-masking structure coversthe connection circuit.
 12. The displaying apparatus of claim 11,wherein the displaying panel further comprises an optical filterstructure, formed on the second substrate corresponding to thelight-penetrating portions.
 13. The displaying apparatus of claim 12,wherein the light modulation unit comprises two electrodes formed on thefirst substrate and the second substrate respectively and a liquidcrystal disposed between the two electrodes, and the semiconductorswitch is electrically connected to the two electrodes.
 14. Thedisplaying apparatus of claim 13, wherein the light-masking structure isformed on the second substrate.
 15. The displaying apparatus of claim12, wherein the light modulation unit comprises two electrodes formed onthe first substrate and the optical filter structure respectively and aliquid crystal disposed between the two electrodes, the semiconductorswitch is electrically connected to the two electrodes, and thelight-masking structure is formed on the second substrate.
 16. Thedisplaying apparatus of claim 11, wherein the displaying panel furthercomprises a control module, and the control module is electricallyconnected to the light modulation units by the connection circuit. 17.The displaying apparatus of claim 11, wherein the second substrate isaligned with the first substrate at the first side.
 18. The displayingapparatus of claim 11, wherein the structural frame has a protrusiveside wall, the second edge is against the protrusive side wall, anextension end of the protrusive side wall is aligned with a top surfaceof the second substrate.
 19. The displaying apparatus of claim 11,further comprising a back light device disposed below the displayingpanel, for providing the light.
 20. The displaying apparatus of claim19, wherein the back light device comprising a light source module atthe first or the second side.
 21. The displaying apparatus of claim 19,wherein the structural frame surrounds the back light device.
 22. Thedisplaying apparatus of claim 11, wherein the structural framesupporting the first substrate and the protruding portion of the secondsubstrate.
 23. The displaying apparatus of claim 11, wherein thelight-masking structure covers portions of the structural frame,supporting the first substrate and the second substrate.